Late Planting and Care of the Vegetable Garden 
SUCCESSFUL METHODS IN CARING FOR GARDEN CROPS DURING THE SUMMER 
MONTHS-WHAT VARIETIES TO SOW FOR FALL AND WINTER CONSUMPTION 
F there were some way 
in which the enthusi¬ 
asm for planting of the 
average home gardener 
could be divided up so that 
part of it might be used 
in late summer, instead of 
having it all exhausted 
during the first spring 
months, the garden would 
be very greatly the gainer 
thereby. But in the aver¬ 
age case, when the cu¬ 
cumbers, melons, lima 
beans, etc., have been put 
in, and the eggplants and 
peppers have been set out, 
the gardener puts up his 
reel and line and his seed 
drill with a sigh of relief, 
and compliments himself 
with the assumption that it is all over for 
another year with the exception of plant¬ 
ings of such things as radishes and let¬ 
tuce. 
That is the course usually pursued, and the result is that in 
the average garden one generally beholds along in July, when the 
dry spells are beginning to strike us with their inevitable accom¬ 
paniment of bugs and troubles of one sort and another, rows and 
whole patches of desirable and valuable space, the original occu¬ 
pants of which have gone by, are left empty or are full of pods or 
fruits so old and tough that they can never be used. As space is 
limited in the average home garden, such a condition is first of all 
a waste of room which should be devoted to some useful purpose; 
more than that, as such spots quickly become neglected, it fre¬ 
quently happens that the weeds there are overlooked and allowed 
to go to seed before they are noticed, and in any case the over¬ 
grown or overmatured vegetables are drawing heavily upon the 
plant food in the soil, which, if it is not used to grow something 
useful, should at least be saved until wanted at another time. 
In the garden that is carefully planned and executed, however, 
every space that is planted and set out first to a crop that will 
mature and ripen before the season is over, will yield a second and 
in some cases even a third one in the late summer and fall. In 
many instances, in fact, two crops are growing on the same ground 
at the same time by the use of “interplanting” and “companion 
planting,” which some gardeners make use of in order that there 
may not be even temporarily ground that is not fully occupied. 
The fact that there are some vegetables which will mature 
quickly enough and which will start off well in hot weather, and 
that others will with slight protection go through the winter 
safely, gives the gardener an opportunity for planting in three 
distinct groups during July and August. The first is vegetables 
for late fall use and to keep through the winter. The second is 
crops to start now and to winter over for early results in the 
spring, and the third, which is not so commonly utilized but which 
is just as important, is the opportunity which the use of plants 
gives the gardener for maintaining or even for increasing the 
fertility of his soil-—or, in the case of the small general place, 
making the garden and any unoccupied ground there may be con¬ 
tribute to the fall and winter supply of materials for the horse, 
cow or chickens. 
There is a number of 
things which should be 
taken into consideration 
in making plans for these 
late plantings, because the 
conditions are in many re¬ 
spects very different from 
those that obtain in the 
spring. In the latter case 
the danger is that the 
ground may be too wet 
and cause the seed to rot; 
on the other hand, the 
danger in late planting is 
that it may be so dry and 
so hot as to make germi¬ 
nation impossible. In the 
spring it is well to get the 
ground plowed in advance 
of planting in order that 
the soil may have a chance 
to become warmed up and dried out a 
little on the surface; with the late plant¬ 
ings, on the other hand, it is usually best 
to plant just as soon after plowing and 
harrowing as can possibly be done, giving the newly-sown seed 
the benefit of the moist soil turned up by the plow from the lower 
depths of the soil. 
Unless one has to encounter a spell of wet weather, which is 
not likely at this time of the year, the seeds should be planted 
deeper than the same varieties if they are put in in the spring. In 
regard to this, there is no definite rule, but twice as deep as the 
planting in the earlier season will in most instances be not too 
much. 
Perhaps the most important pointer in getting good germina¬ 
tions from late sowings of seeds is to see that they are properly 
firmed into the soil. The great importance of this simple pre¬ 
caution is not generally recognized. In many instances it may 
mean the difference between a poor, straggling “stand,” or even 
none at all, and good full rows. Large seeds, such as beans or 
peas, may be firmed into the bottom of the row, before covering, 
with the sole of the foot. Smaller things, such as turnips or 
radish, may be firmed in the drill before covering, if planted by 
hand, with the back of a narrow-bladed hoe or by running the 
wheelbarrow wheel, if it is sufficiently wide, along the row. When 
using the seed drill with only a very small quantity of seed, a 
small stone or something of the kind can be used as a weight so 
that the earth will be packed down over the drill more compactly, 
or the whole patch when planted may be gone over with the 
garden roller. Taking this trouble to get the earth up tight 
against the seeds and covering them up on all sides is done not only 
to insure a quicker and surer germination, by having whatever 
moisture is available brought into direct contact with the seeds, 
but also to insure the life and growth of the plants after germina¬ 
tion, because if the tiny embryo root issues forth into a minia¬ 
ture empty space full of hot, dry air, its fate is soon settled. 
In setting plants the same precaution of getting them absolutely 
firm into the soil should also be taken. Plants set out in wet, 
cloudy weather in the spring will live if simply thrown on the 
surface of the soil (I cut two nice heads of lettuce yesterday 
which had had no further care than to be dumped out by chance 
from a flat last spring when we were setting out cabbages and 
by F. F. Rockwell 
Photographs by R. S. Lemmon and Others 
